Australia

I am attempting to do a fun run in a different city each month for 2016. The first run was a 10km (six mile) run in Hobart, Tasmania which is part of the Cadbury Marathon. The Cadbury Chocolate Company are a key part of the city’s economy with a presence there since 1922. They have sponsored this race for about a decade, I think. The 10km run starts and finishes at the Cadbury factory and runs past the famous Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). The last section of the race includes a steep climb back…

As many have speculated, the Dutch Safety Board Report have found that a Russian made BUK missile brought down the plane. The missile travelling at three times the speed of sound exploded just above the cockpit of MH17 at an altitude of 10.1km (33, 000 feet). Eight hundred pre-formed fragments in the missile punctured the plane bringing it down in one and a half minutes. The three crew members in the cockpit were killed immediately. The Board found multiple missile fragments in their bodies. This video shows the painstaking reconstruction of the Malaysian 777: The speed…

The news that part of an aeroplane has washed up on the shore of the Island of Réunion last Wednesday gives little comfort to families and friends of those who were on Malaysia Airlines 370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014. Confirmation by Malaysia on Friday, that the part is a flaperon and is indeed from a Boeing 777 tells us that it is likely that the plane did indeed end up in the sea. It does not tell us how, where or why. (See wsj: What is a flaperon?) Additional information emerged that a suitcase was…

This old English saying comes from the early 17th Century. It describes a person who is thrifty (or miserly) with small amounts of their money, but wasteful with larger amounts. Travelling I see plenty of people guilty of this! I used to work with a very wise man called Tom. He taught me the value of valuing my time and money. He noted that his predecessor used to drive across town two hours and back to save the $10 delivery fee on a particular supply. Tom noted it was costing the company $35 to save that $10. Tom noted…

100 years ago on 25th April, a dramatic World War One battle impacted Australia and New Zealand when soldiers from both countries supported the British attempt to take control of the northern bank of the Dardanelles as part of the campaign to capture Constantinople (now) Istanbul in Turkey. 100,000 men perished in eight months over this failed attempt. The date of the landing, is known as “Anzac Day” (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) and is commemorated by hundreds of thousands across both countries and Turkey, every April 25th. Yesterday, I attended a dawn commemoration with 120 000…

I love sharing things that I find make my travel faster, easier, more enjoyable, safer and cheaper. My ultimate aim is to let my travel serve me not the other way around! In 2014, readers liked the following Travel Tips posts the most: Travel insurance Rocks! The Man in Seat 61 – the best guide to riding trains across the globe -ever Seven Things not to pack – which generated some controversy with heaps of comments! What to do with left over foreign coins? Some very helpful comments here Don’t carry a Money Belt-my other controversial…

As I reflect on 2014, I pondered how do I measure my travel? 1. By Kilometres, miles or points? In 2014 I covered: 3000km (2000 miles) by train 4000km (2500 miles) by bus 12000km by rental car (7000 miles) 124,754 (77.5k) by air to or from 22 airports. I flew four new airlines bringing my total number of air carriers to 91 airlines! The new ones were: Burma’s Air KBZ, Bangkok Airways Finnair (review coming Tuesday) and Germania 2. The Goals I achieved? In 2014, I completed my first (and last) marathon in Berlin, Germany hiked across…

Almost a million Australians a year travel to Thailand. Many get into trouble and some of them are now captured for eternity in a fascinating new TV series “The Embassy“, set at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. It is compelling viewing. Trailer: The hour long episodes deal with everything that can go wrong on holidays in Thailand: ladyboys, love, lust, lost passports, lunatic drinking and lame behaviour. My favourite line comes from one of the Thai staff at the embassy: “low cost airfares meant the end of ‘the calm’ for consular offices.” The “observational documentary series”…

Tempted by this extraordinary deal from Etihad. Hot on their Australian status match promotion, the airline is offering ridiculously cheap fares to Europe and India from all Australian ports. I am trying to work out whether the airline has massive capacity or is trying to flex some muscle? For example, Sydney to Amsterdam or Paris or Rome or Zurich for $A1230 round trip. The next cheapest price from any airline is around $1430 with Vietnam Airlines and China Southern, both of which take much longer to get you to Europe. The extraordinary bargain are the flights from…

Etihad is trying to seriously wrestle Qantas and Emirates for some international traffic out of Australia. Until 6th August, they are have a deal to extend Gold status in their Etihad Guest” Frequent Flyer program to any Australian who holds Gold (or higher status) with any international airline but Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines. Gold with Etihad gets you: 50 precent more miles on every Etihad flight access to business class lounges run by Etihad, Virgin Australia, Air Berlin, Singapore airlines and other carriers for the Gold card holder and guest 15kg additional baggage allowance priority baggage handling Business Class…